Despite the “imbalances” in the single currency posing “a formidable challenge”, Mr Rehn also maintained that the European Central Bank “will remain an anchor of stability throughout the crisis”.

Writing in the Wall Street Journal, the commissioner for economic and monetary affairs and the euro argued that the economic problems of today are rooted in the beginnings of the European project 13 years ago.

“The eurozone is at a decisive juncture – not only in its three-year-old debt crisis but in its 13-year-old history,” he wrote. “And the two are inextricably linked: The short-term symptoms of this crisis have their roots in long-term ailments.